If you’ve been following my assorted social medias, you might have heard that some wonderful individual nominated my second book, Chasing Nonconformity, for the 50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading 2016 list!

Now, I have no idea if getting on this list actually means anything — more readers, more publicity, more sales, etc. But I’m in this race now, and darn it if I don’t want to win! Voting ends on July 1, so it’s time for a flood of last-minute ballots to swing my victory!

Are you a genre-phobe? Do you love to read fantasy but avoid romance like the plague?

Sci-fi flips your switch but horror makes you flip out?

I’m right there with you. Through the years I’ve had many genre phobias, but I notice that mine tend to shift over time.

When I was a teenager, I couldn’t get enough of romance novels. I loved to read about people older than me living exciting lives where I could picture myself as part of the adventure. Now that I am the older person, I love to read Young Adult fiction for stories about people younger than me living exciting lives while I imagine being part of the adventure.

I tend to avoid horror and zombie books because of the gore… yet a serial killer thriller is a must-read in spite of the gore. Inconsistent, I know…

Anyone who follows me closely will know my book was removed from Amazon for almost a fortnight after they registered some unusual activity. At first I was at a loss. What was it, where had it come from? But since I have learnt a terrifying truth behind Kindle Unlimited, it is one all authors need to be aware of. It is a KU scam that could ruin your career and put your money into fraudsters’ pockets.

In this post I will detail my own experience, in hope you know what to look out for.

I was running a book promotion, a push to generate interest in my first book. After approaching blogs and book promotion sites I began to run a 99cents promotion on Darrienia, which at that time was number one in two of its categories. Book two is coming out at the end of the year…

Confessions of an Adverb Junkie

by Patrick Hodges

Hello. My name is Patrick, and I am an adverb junkie.

(Everyone: Hi, Patrick! We warmly welcome you openly!)

I’m an emotional guy, and I write the same way. I am of the firm belief that every spoken word, every action, needs to have some kind of emotion (even if it’s a lack of emotion – ponder THAT) attached to it. A person can’t just knock on a door; they have to “rap loudly and purposefully” on it. A person can’t just nod their head, they have to “nod slowly.”

I’ve been told repeatedly (there I go again…) that I am overly dependent on adverbs. And it’s taken me some time to realize that the criticism is accurate. This new awareness is like being wakened from a really pleasant dream by having a bucket of ice water dumped over your head.

Today’s author spotlight is the talented Debbie Manber Kupfer, a wizard at cypher and guaranteed to trick your mind. I wonder if she could give Dumbledore a run for his money? Without further adieu, here…Debbie! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? My name’s Debbie Manber Kupfer. I grew up in […]